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　　Passage 8

　　In 1889 all Paris admired the Eiffel Tower. It was the engineering wonder of the world. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel had completed his masterpiece in steel.

　　Steel as a building material was then still new. The 984-foot tower was a lacy network of girders （支架）。 There were thousands of steel pieces. Two and a half million rivets （铆钉） joined them.

　　From four corners， the legs of the tower slope inward. They rise to form a pointed top. Lifts carry visitors to three platforms at different heights. On a clear day， countryside sixty miles off is viewed from the top platform.

　　As Eiffel planned， his structure is a landmark of Paris. It is even higher today. A station later constructed for radio and television has added almost fifty feet to the original height of the tower.

　　1. The Eiffel Tower was completed in ______.

　　A. 1949 B. 1869 C. 1889 D. 1899

　　选项中一般有地点、人物和时间的题都比较容易。

　　答案：C

　　2. The tower bears the name of ______.

　　A. the main river of Paris B. a president of France

　　C. its builder D. None of the above

　　bear v 为人所知 过去式bore 过去分词borne.

　　Alexandre Gustave Eiffel 人物名

　　masterpiece 著作、代表作

　　答案：C

　　一般选项D不是正确选项。A、B、C至少有一个是正确选项。

　　3. The tower was an engineering wonder because of ______.

　　A. its sideways slant B. the use of steel

　　C. the use of glass D. its location

　　engineering wonder 工程奇迹

　　slant=slope 斜坡

　　sideways 一旁的， 向侧面的

　　答案：B

　　4. The article describes the tower as being ______.

　　A. lacy B. solid C. needlelike D. spidery

　　describe 描述

　　lacy 花边状的

　　solid 坚固的

　　needlelike 象针一般的

　　spidery 蜘蛛状的

　　答案：A

　　984-foot adj作定语修饰tower当有“-”联字符时，则foot用单数形式。

　　例如：a 3000-word composition 一篇3000字的文章

　　network 网状物

　　5. To reach the top platform， sightseers use ______.

　　A. lifts B. escalators

　　C. steel ladders D. spiral stairways

　　platform 平台

　　escalator 电动扶梯

　　ladder 梯子

　　spiral stairways 螺旋梯

　　答案：A

　　thousands of 成千上万的

　　inward 向里面地

　　slope 倾斜

　　rise vi 升起

　　landmark （航海）陆标， 地界标， 里程碑， 划时代的事

　　even 常用于比较级前，起修饰作用。

　　constructed for radio and television 过去分词短语作定语修饰主语station.

　　对于文章中的长难句，要进行语法和句法分析。